Pieces of Me
by Emily Rose Gold
Summary: Once Upon a Time Rumpelstilskin had been a father. A man who loved children, and wanted nothing more then to protect them. Yet, those feelings were no longer wanted and the Dark One will do anything to get rid of the good left in Rumplestilskin's heart. Even rip out pieces and hide them away so no one can see. AU from Shattered Mirror Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING, NOT EVEN PIC!


So, I refuse to believe that Gold had absolutely no feeling for the three people he manipulated. Therefore, here is my idea that at some point he thought of Regina, Snow, and Charming in fatherly terms. That the darkness controlling his soul bid him to ignore the love he felt for them.

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><p>Gold had no idea what he was doing. He was running, just running. Trees were scratching his 5,000 dollar suite, rocks and dirt were ruining his 200 dollars shoes, and he could have cared less. All he knew was that he had to get away. For once he had full control of his actions and he wanted to put as much distance between himself and that damn hat. It had killed any chance he had had for a family. Faster and faster he moved as he ran across the rocky terrain, ever moving upward.<p>

He had lived for centuries, and nothing good had ever come from it. He was the bane of people's existence and there was nothing he could do for it. His father had seen it, Mila had seen it, Bae had and the countless people that he had terrorized. Every good thing he had ever done was overshadowed by the bad, and he was freaking tired of it. He just wanted it all to end, without having to screw over anyone else.

Still, that dark part of him wondered how his emotions were getting the better of him. He had successful ripped his own heart out and taken away any love he had felt for his family, a long time ago. But he had always been a man of strong passions, so when he loved. He loved from his soul. Taking those pieces allowed him to ignore his softer emotions but not completely. Really, he was surprised he had the will-power to get the Dark One away from them.

Poor Emma, he was sure Hook was telling her everything now. She was probably hating herself for trusting him, and allowing Henry anywhere near him. He would be lucky that Snow and Charming did not come after him. They knew where he kept Pandora's Box, all they would have to do was open the lid. Maybe it would be Regina that did it. After all, she would be protecting her boy. Maybe it would bring all his children together, finally.

His Children. That's what he always thought of them as he watched them grow up into the amazing adults they were. Every time he manipulated Regina into becoming evil, every time he separated Charming and Snow to only put them back together he felt a bit more his soul darken. It was not his heart that he was worried about, it was his soul that the curse resided in. His heart was still good, that he knew. Somehow it had not succumbed totally, although he if he kept writing parts out there would be nothing left.

When Regina had turned twelve, he had turned himself into a fly on the wall to watch her open her presents. He had decided that his softer feelings for that girl were unacceptable. He had to actually restrain himself from beating Cora into a pulp when she had killed the dog he had sent, in front of her daughter. Regina had loved that pup, not because it was a pup and it was cute, but because it had come from her fairy godfather. Cora had made sure that he never sent her another present again. That night he had ripped his heart out for the first time, witnessed the good that was still clinging stubbornly, and made sure that he took the piece of his heart he had given to Regina and stored it away.

It was odd, when he broke her piece off it had turned into a brilliant blue heart shaped stone. He had made sure that he hid the piece away so no one could control him. Later he had added a brilliant snow white stone and then a charming pink one. Slowly he took away the part of him that would object to the heavy treatment of his chosen three. No more did he think of himself as their fairy godfather, and he made sure to erase any early memories they had of him. The Dark One would have nothing derail his plains, not even his own heart.

There were days that Rumpelstiltskin really, really hated himself.

Now here he was running away from the scene of a horrible crime, the betrayal of family. Something he swore he would never do after he got Bae back. Just that morning, after Emma had run from his shop, he had ripped three more pieces from his heart and added it to the three already inside. Six in all, six people that he was too afraid to love. That he should have loved, and led into greatness. There could have been so much more he could have done, but the darkness in his soul would hear none of it and nobody would help him.

Bae, Regina, Snow, Charming, Emma, and Henry. All were pieces of himself that he was just too afraid to understand. Too afraid to acknowledge. Too afraid to believe in. Maybe they could have helped him overcome his curse, maybe all six together could have broken it if he had just reached out.

There were six pieces of his heart that he had stored in a heart shaped box under his bed, and as he ran toward the town line. He suddenly realized that they were the only good part of his heart left.

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><p>So? I know it's strange, but the show does not address the whole dark curse thing. I know they believe evil is not born, but made. That its a theme, but I feel like they are ignoring the Dark One Curse in favor of it. Not cool.<p> 


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